Wisdom Matters
by Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Summary: Poor Alan faces a trip to the dental surgeon. Wrote the story based on one of my friend's experiences. Rated T to be safe - mild language.


Jeff watched as a waiter placed a plate of steak dinner down in front of Alan who just stared solemnly at the dish. Alan waited patiently to eat his dinner until his brother John and dad received their plates. The elder blonde looked over at Alan, smiling reassuringly at his younger blonde brother. His big brother was aware of how anxious he was feeling. Tonight would be his last solid food meal for several days. Regardless of the necessity of it…in the morning, Alan was scheduled to have surgery.

To be specific, Alan was scheduled to have all four of his wisdom teeth removed. The surgeon that was to do the extraction recommended to Jeff that to lessen temptation for Alan that he eat like a king the night prior to surgery. So, Jeff took his two blonde sons to one of the finest restaurants in the Manhattan area to treat Alan to a steak dinner. He'd only be allowed to eat soft foods for the next couple of days and each of his brothers except for John jokingly swore that they'd be sure to torture Alan after surgery.

Alan was not looking forward to the surgery. He'd just started experiencing TMJ and it was making his days long and rather uncomfortable. Due to the pain and discomfort that Alan had begrudgingly informed his dad of, Jeff scheduled an appointment for Alan whilst he was at school to go see the family dentist. Scott had to fly out to pick up Alan in Boston from Wharton's and take him over to Manhattan.

After the initial appointment, Scott and Alan both were informed that Alan's four wisdom teeth had become impacted and were putting undue strain on Alan's other teeth…thus causing the stiff jaw pain. Scott updated their dad of the situation and Jeff decided that surgery was in order. The dentist recommended that Alan continue taking Ibuprofen to alleviate the side effects of TMJ whilst still at school. The earliest that Alan could get in to have the surgery was a month and a half following the discovery of the impacted wisdom teeth, right at the start of summer vacation.

"Eat your dinner Alan." Jeff commanded softly of his son, when he'd simply continued to stare at his plate.

"To be honest, I'm not really hungry." Alan swallowed deeply. His appetite had run screaming with his arrival in the Manhattan area.

"You never ate lunch today Al…you can't eat anything after midnight tonight. Go on, take a bite…it's really good." John motioned with his fork at Alan to follow his lead. The younger blonde again just stared at his plate, before picking up his knife and fork.

Alan's jaw was a tad bit sore today. The dentist told Alan to discontinue use of the Ibuprofen several days before his surgery and Alan was certainly feeling it. He'd been unable to really enjoy his meals these last few days, the pain and stiffness making it dually difficult for Alan to chew. That and sleep was next to impossible.

Dinner continued in silence as the family of three focused on their own individual meal. It was painstakingly obvious to Jeff and John that Alan was having difficulty chewing up the steak, he'd taken to cutting up normal bite sized pieces into half their original size just so he could manage to chew. It made Jeff feel bad for his youngest son.

The sixteen year old seemed miserable when the patriarch and space monitor arrived at Wharton to pick up Alan. Lady Penelope and Parker were coming to retrieve Fermat later that day for the start of summer, and then Scott would fly up in Thunderbird Three to drop off Fermat with his father in Thunderbird Five.

When dinner was finished, Jeff suggested that Alan get his favorite dessert…a slice of New York cheesecake. Alan agreed and John's eyes lit up when he'd decided on a brownie for dessert. The young blonde ate his dessert and tried to simply make the best of it. He knew from past experiences with watching each of his brothers that wisdom teeth extraction was not fun…at all.

"So Alan, are you looking forward to getting this over and done with?" John sucked on his spoon to get the remnants of chocolate off as he talked to his brother.

"No, to be honest…I am dreading it." Alan finished the last bite of his cheesecake and continued to frown.

"Why? It's not so bad." John clearly had no memory of what he went through with his own wisdom teeth extraction. Alan settled a glare on his brother, before rolling his eyes.

"Mm-hmm." Alan replied. He wasn't going to honor that statement with a response. He was already aware that his other brothers commissioned John to film him post-op, let's just hope he didn't make a complete ass of himself.

When everybody finished dinner and dessert, they all returned to the penthouse where they stayed when on business. It was comfortable, but certainly not home. Upon returning to the penthouse, Alan meandered off to his bedroom. Closing his bedroom door, Alan gathered his pajamas and went to go take a shower. He was feeling stressed about the surgery, there was no doubt about that.

Standing under the torrent of warm water, Alan tried to wash the stress away. A knock at the door roused Alan from his thoughts. He'd been in the shower for several minutes, and decided to go see who was trying to get his attention. Wrapping a towel about his waist, Alan answered to the knock.

"Hold on, be right out." Alan called before hopping on one foot while he stepped into his pajama shorts.

"Are you decent?" It was John at the door.

"Yeah, now I am." Alan opened the bathroom door to see his older brother. John had changed into his own pajamas also. They would all have to turn in early for the night because Alan was to be at the hospital for surgery at eight o'clock sharp.

John leaned against the door frame whilst Alan set about brushing his teeth. The older blonde seemed to be carefully assessing his younger brother. Alan had his toothbrush in his mouth when he finally noticed his older brother staring at him.

"What?" Alan's voice was garbled as his mouth was filled with the spearmint smelling foam.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to figure you out. You say you aren't looking forward to the surgery tomorrow, but you don't look the least bit nervous." John stepped into the bathroom and grabbed a flannel before handing it to Alan to clean his face with.

Alan spit what he had in his mouth out and rinsed his toothbrush. There was no point in admitting to his discomfort. He knew John was trying to get him to admit to feeling anxious or scared, but Alan wouldn't do it. He despised showing weakness and to admit that he was scared of being admitted to the hospital, if only for outpatient surgery to his older brother was demeaning.

"Well, I'm not looking forward to surgery tomorrow. Who in their right mind enjoys having sharp implements put in their mouth?" Alan stated, before signaling for John to wait while he used mouthwash.

"Hell if I know, Al. Listen, it's okay to admit if you're afraid…I know you don't care much for needles or hospitals for that matter. I won't judge you for saying you're scared." Alan rolled his eyes at John trying to use reverse psychology in order to get him to admit to being afraid. Spitting out the mouthwash in his mouth, Alan turned to his brother.

"Fine, if you want me to admit that I'm afraid…fine. I'm scared out of my mind…why? I'm not looking forward to having my teeth yanked out, but I'll be okay." Alan wet the flannel under the tap and wiped the remnants of toothpaste from his mouth, before shutting off the bathroom light. "Listen, I don't mean to snap…it's just I want to be done with this. My jaw is killing me, I haven't gotten proper sleep in months and I am dreading this surgery. All I want is to get this done, and move on."

"I know Al." John draped an arm around Alan's shoulder, directing him to his own bed. "It'll be okay. You'll be so loopy on pain meds afterwards you probably won't even know your own name."

"That's what I'm afraid of. What if I blab something about the Thunderbirds?" Alan settled a serious look on John.

"Like I said…you'll be so loopy you probably won't even know your own name. I doubt anyone would take you seriously if you said something about the Thunderbirds." John chuckled and ruffled Alan's damp hair. "Get some sleep; morning will be here before you know it."

"Okay." Alan drew back the duvet and slid down between the sheets. "Night."

"Good night Al." John turned out Alan's lamp beside his bed and pulled the door closed.

Alan lay in bed for several minutes. His jaw was still aching and it seemed like nothing could make it feel better. Pulling a hand from beneath the coverlet, Alan reached up and began to massage his jaw. Feeling a yawn coming on, Alan opened his mouth to release said yawn and groaned when his jaw popped loudly.

"Ow." Alan rubbed his jaw lightly again, before turning over and going to sleep. Might as well follow John's advice.

* * *

The next morning like John said came much too fast for the youngest Tracy. He'd slept, but it was a very restless sleep. It was seemingly full of nothing but tossing and turning for the young boy and when his dad entered the room to awaken the young blonde the following morning it was painfully obvious how well Alan had slept.

Jeff sat on the side of Alan's bed and gently shook his young son's shoulder. Alan responded to the early morning wakeup call by burying his head under his pillows and mumbling a sleepy '_mm_-_hmm'_ to his father. Jeff chuckled lightly to himself as he tried a second and third time to rouse Alan.

"Son, come on. It's time to get up." Jeff tried one last time, before he decided he'd sic John on Alan if the young blonde didn't awaken.

Alan was loathing lifting his head from his pillows, but he did so nonetheless. Flipping over from his stomach to his back, Alan opened sleepy blue eyes to glare at his dad for waking him up. Blinking repetitively, Alan managed to clear the sleep from his eyes. His dad's smiling face greeted him.

"Up and at 'em Alan. We need to be at the hospital in a half an hour to check you in." Jeff smoothed Alan's rumpled blonde hair back from his forehead, before patting Alan's shoulder. "Don't go back to sleep, or I'll sic your brother on you and you know how much he loves a good round of tickle torture."

Alan sat up, so it'd be impossible for him to go back to sleep and pushed back the coverlet of his bed. Scooting over to the edge of the bed, Alan gave a big stretch before yawning. His jaw popped again and it hurt enough to make Alan elicit a small whimper. A knock on the door frame had Alan looking up to see John leaning against the door frame.

"Hey bud, how'd you sleep?" John moved into the bedroom and stood before Alan, a small frown in place on his face when he watched Alan rub his jaw. "Is your jaw bothering you?"

Alan didn't feel it necessary to speak; he simply nodded at his older brother's question and resumed rubbing his jaw. John reached out and clasped Alan's chin between his thumb and forefinger. Pressing two cold fingers against either side of Alan's jaw, John gently rubbed in a circular motion. His frown lifted to a small grin when he noticed Alan lean into the cold touch. It was thanks to inheriting his mother's poor circulation that he had naturally cold hands.

"Does that feel good buddy?" John's smile remained when Alan gave a small nod at the question. No doubt John's cold fingertips felt like heaven on Alan's sore jaw. "Come on, dad said to get you up."

Alan gave a small pout when John quit rubbing his sore jaw, but opened his eyes when he heard his dresser open. John was over riffling through in search of something comfortable for Alan to wear as opposed to jeans. He'd be really disoriented after surgery and he'd need something that would be loose fitting, but not incredibly baggy.

"Here you go Al. T-shirt, hoodie and lounge pants." Alan looked down at the clothes placed in his hands to see that John chose blue checkered lounge pants and a white t-shirt for him to wear. The surgeon told him to dress for comfort, but it was obvious that for the day he would look like he was lazy.

"Thanks." Alan spoke in a mumble. He was still quite tired and there seemed to be nothing that could wake him up. He couldn't have anything to eat or drink and he so desperately wished he could have a coffee, anything to wake him up enough to be coherent.

John grabbed Alan by his shoulders and pulled him up from the bed where he had been sitting and directed Alan into the bathroom. The groggy blonde was still quite obviously half asleep. While Alan was getting dressed, John and Jeff both grabbed a coffee and a bagel from the kitchen and consumed their light meal before Alan could see them eating. It wouldn't be fair to the boy to see his dad and brother eat when he wouldn't be permitted to eat for several more hours.

"Alright gang, are we ready?" With Alan's arrival from his bedroom, Jeff stood to usher his sons out the door. They made their way down through Jeff's company via elevator and made it down to the car garage with nary a problem. "Buckle up boys."

Alan sat in the back and reclined his head against the headrest after buckling his seatbelt. Blinking once, Alan was soon fast asleep a fact that was not lost on Jeff or John. They both were aware that Alan was not gaining proper sleep due to the almost constant pain present in his jaw. Turning on the radio, Jeff adjusted the volume to play softly, adding to the quiet ambience in the vehicle while he drove. John sat passenger and gazed outside at the dreary Manhattan weather. It was forecast to rain all day and due to rain and traffic, Jeff decided it'd be smart to leave a little early in order to get there.

Several minutes rolled by before they arrived at the outpatient clinic portion of the hospital. Alan was scheduled to go in; get his four impacted wisdom teeth removed and discharged by noon and then the following day they'd fly back home. After parking the vehicle and shutting off the engine, Jeff turned to wake Alan who'd promptly fallen asleep after getting settled in his seat.

"Alan, wake up. We're here." Alan woke up almost immediately from his light doze and shook his head to clear the fog that'd built up in his mind from the nap. Alan gazed out the window from the backseat to see they were in fact parked in front of the outpatient clinic.

"Oh yippy-Skippy." Alan muttered under his breath. Too late to turn back and just put up with the pain in his jaw for the rest of his life.

"Geez, don't sound so excited there Alan." John removed his seatbelt before climbing from the vehicle. Opening Alan's door John fixed a reassuring '_you-can-do-it'_ grin on his face for Alan's sake. "You should be happy to be getting this over with."

"Oh, I'm just ecstatic." Alan replied, sarcasm dripping from his words as he spoke to his elder brother.

"That's the spirit." John shot back with a smart alec remark of his own, which made Alan cringe.

Jeff got between his two sons before any other snipped remarks could be made in retaliation towards each other. Placing a firm hand on Alan's shoulder, Jeff directed his youngest son to walk beside him. He himself knew that wisdom teeth removal was anything but fun, but it had to be done. Pushing past the door, Jeff walked in with his sons and together they made their way towards the desk to sign Alan in.

"Hello Alan, if you'll come back here behind the desk, we can take down your weight and height to make sure you are given the correct amount of anesthesia. Please remove any electronics from your pocket and your tennis shoes." A nurse behind the desk motioned for Alan to come behind her desk.

Alan made a show to the nurse that he didn't have pockets in his lounge pants to carry a cell phone in and he removed his hoodie as it was slightly heavy and could add weight to Alan. Passing the hoodie to his dad, Alan stepped out of his shoes and shuffled back behind the desk. Stepping up onto the scale, the nurse grabbed a chart to record Alan's weight.

"123 pounds…that's good. Now for your height." The nurse motioned for Alan to move off the scale and over to the far wall where a height ruler was located. "Stand here."

Alan stood up straight against the wall while the nurse recorded his height on his chart. He narrowed his gaze at John when his older brother was grinning and making hand gestures signaling that he'd grown again. Alan wanted to flip his brother the bird when John mouthed his least favorite nickname of 'Sprout' to him, but he'd refrained because he personally didn't feel up to getting grounded for bad behavior in public.

"Five foot seven inches. Looks like you are growing like normal." The nurse placed Alan's chart on a clipboard and put it in a wall hanger for the doctor to retrieve when it was Alan's turn to go back. Going to sit with his dad and brother, Alan decided to get as comfortable as was possible in an outpatient hospital waiting room.

It seemed like forever and a day to Alan until his name was called. Standing with his dad and brother, all three of them followed another nurse back to a room, where he'd stay until he was discharged. The nurse gave Alan a hospital gown before closing the door to his room. Alan wrinkled his nose as he gazed at the starchy white garment.

"Best get changed Alan." Jeff and John turned their backs to offer Alan privacy to strip from his clothes to slip into the gown. Thankfully he'd be permitted to keep his boxers on during the surgery so he wouldn't feel quite so exposed. Jeff turned around to tie the gown shut for Alan when he'd said he was decent, before Alan crawled onto the provided bed and slipped beneath the coverlet.

Despite it being summer albeit a bit rainy, the room was cool and Alan's toes were cold. He blamed it on inheriting his mother's poor circulation as well, but he knew that wasn't so much the case as he was just cold in general. The tile floor in the hospital room was like ice and it made Alan feel cold. It hadn't been more than ten minutes of waiting before the doctor that'd be doing Alan's extraction entered the room with yet another nurse.

"How are you doing today Alan?" The new unfamiliar nurse inquired while she swabbed an alcohol wipe over Alan's hand to prepare for the insertion on an IV.

"Well, to be honest…I will be glad when this is over." Alan figured honesty was the best policy, so he'd been straight up with the nurse.

"I know dear." The nurse patted Alan's shoulder before picking up the IV that was to be inserted. "Best look away if you're squeamish or don't like needles."

Alan followed the nurse's advice and conveniently gazed up at the ceiling, trying his best not to jerk when the pinch of the IV entering his vein occurred. Jeff had his hands full with both of his blonde sons; John and Alan weren't the least bit squeamish, but neither of them really cared for needles.

"All done dear." The nurse clasped a hand on Alan's shoulder while she set up the saline for Alan's surgery. "Okay, now this won't hurt a bit. I'm just going to inject your line with a mild sedative to calm you before you're taken to surgery. When you get to the OR, they'll give you anesthesia, which will put you to sleep for the operation."

Alan nodded mutely as he focused on John who was trying to keep him distracted. As the doctor talked to his dad about what to expect immediately following surgery, Alan gave in to the lovely pull of sleep. He felt calm, a lot calmer than he'd felt in several days preceding this surgery. Alan barely noticed John brushing his bangs from his eyes or his dad gently kissing his forehead. All he was aware of was the wonderful pull of sleep and the cool lights that were moving above him as his bed was moved down the hall to the OR.

In what felt like a couple of minutes, Alan was soon gazing up at a nurse that he didn't recognize. He simply nodded when she asked him to count backwards from ten for her and he only managed to count to eight before he fell asleep. He hadn't even noticed the mask that'd been placed on his face that'd give him the anesthetic to render him unconscious.

* * *

Jeff and John both sat in the room that Alan had been assigned waiting for Alan to return from surgery. It'd already been about an hour and a half and the doctor told them surgery would be about one to two hours maximum, provided they didn't experience any unforeseen complications, which was highly unlikely. Jeff was sifting through his work email via his cell phone whilst John was busy texting Scott.

Rescues for IR were a little on the slow front, not that there was a problem with that. It gave the boys ample time to kick back and relax. Enjoy the warm weather on the home front and just be boys, not heroes risking their lives to save lives.

_"So how long has the Sprout been in surgery now?"_ Scott was beginning his mother hen routine.

_ "Right around an hour and a half, he should be getting out soon."_ John glanced up at the clock before he replied.

_ "That's good to hear."_ John could almost imagine Scott heaving an impatient sigh.

_ "Yeah, poor kid will be miserable for several days though."_ John recalled each of his brothers getting their wisdom teeth extracted and none of them had a very good experience.

_ "Unfortunately, but it's for the best. According to Ferm, even with the Ibuprofen Alan had been taking to manage the pain from his TMJ…he was still sleeping restlessly."_ John couldn't help but to agree with what Scott said. Despite him and Alan having separate rooms back at the penthouse, John was faintly aware of Alan's tossing and turning he'd grown accustomed to doing because of the TMJ.

_ "Damn, no wonder he was a tad bit snippy yesterday."_ It made sense to John the reason for his baby brother's shorter than average temper.

_ "He was snippy?"_ Scott's question didn't seem all that surprised. John could almost hear the exasperated tone of voice.

_ "Yeah, his jaw was bothering him at dinner and he could hardly eat. Poor kid was cutting up his food like a parent cuts up a child's food. Tiny little morsels." _John himself has never experienced TMJ, but he was familiar with the stiffness that occurred after he'd received a well-placed punch from Virgil once when he'd tried waking the brunette. He figured they were similar.

_ "Yeesh, you're telling me. I remember when Gordy was going to have his wisdom teeth removed; I think he did the exact same thing."_ Gordon was not known for being snippy; John himself could count on one hand the times that Gordon lost his temper at least with him so again what Scott said made sense to the elder blonde.

_ "Wouldn't doubt it, but didn't two of Gordo's wisdom teeth come through?_" John couldn't really remember how many of his younger red-headed brother's wisdom teeth came through, but he could recall it hadn't been pleasant.

_ "Three of them, one was impacted. He was not a happy bunny, I'm telling ya. He was belly-aching all the time while you were off at NASA. I almost throttled him the day before his procedure just to shut him up."_ Leave it to Scott to want to rattle his younger brother's teeth, even if it was meant to maybe knock that stubborn tooth loose and break through the gum line.

_ "Temper, temper."_ John couldn't help it; he had to send a bit of a jab at his big brother.

_ "Oh shut up."_ John grinned at his brother's response.

_ "You first."_ John stuck his tongue out goofily as he grinned. It was sometimes fun to annoy his elder brother.

_ "Don't make me come over there."_ Just the kind of response John was hoping for. He needed to spice up his morning a little, or if nothing else…pester his brother.

_ "Or what…you going to sit on me?" _John stifled a snort at his reply to Scott. His dad didn't bat an eyelash at his second eldest son's chuckle. He'd been sucked into his emails.

_ "Worse, I'll shave all that platinum hair from your head."_ John's jaw dropped and he reached up to smooth his hair back. Nobody touched the hair, not unless they had a death wish.

_ "Touch the hair and you are dead dear brother."_ John defended his platinum blonde hair like his life depended on it.

_ "Now who's got a temper?"_ Rolling his eyes, John lifted his head from his cell phone when the door opened.

_ "Got to go, they are wheeling Alan in."_ John and Jeff moved off to a far corner to get out of the medical personnel's way while they settled Alan's bed. John shot off the text to Scott quickly.

_ "Okay, don't forget to film any zany behavior; we older brothers need some more blackmail on the Sprout."_ Of course Scott would bring up the sole reason that John came along on the trip. It didn't take two adults to escort a teenage boy from an outpatient wing of the hospital after a wisdom teeth extraction, unless you were the Tracy family. No, not even then…it was downright pointless for John to have gone, but he got to spend a little bit of one on one time with his baby brother.

_ "Fine, but don't bug him too much, he probably won't remember saying or doing any of what may get filmed."_ John figured he'd remind Scott of the broken nose he'd received from Virgil after teasing him for him singing Poker Face while under the effects of anesthesia.

_ "Scout's honor." _Obviously Scott recalled having his nose reset, and John hadn't reminded Scott outright of what Virgil did to him.

_ "G2G."_ The medical personnel were leaving the room and Jeff, John and Alan alone. John noticed Alan stirring, but he was still quite obviously out of it. Glancing at his watch, the time read 10:30 Am…they still had another hour and a half until Alan was to be discharged…the kid could afford to sleep a little longer.

Jeff moved over to sit by Alan and he took hold of the hand without the IV and began caressing it gently. Might as well reassure Alan they were there with him so he didn't wake up in a panic. The young blonde's face was noticeably swollen around the cheeks, a tell-tale sign of the gauze that'd been packed in his cheeks to absorb any blood.

"Boy, this is gonna be fun isn't it dad?" John spoke softly despite the fact that Alan had been given enough medicine to knock out a full grown elephant.

"How do you mean?" Jeff didn't understand what his second eldest was getting at.

"Allie is going to be loopy from here to next week…or at least he'll be out of it a majority of the day today." John chuckled lightly, before gazing at the prescription pain medication for Alan. Jeff had already gone down to the hospital pharmacy with John to retrieve Alan's pain medications that had been prescribed to him.

"I guess you're right. But he'll be fine…with any luck the meds will make him sleep. He looks so tired." Jeff stroked Alan's forehead lovingly.

"Of course he looks tired dad, he's currently asleep." John was a bit cheeky with his dad and the patriarch shot him a crooked grin.

"Oh hush boy." Jeff reached across and tousled John's hair, eliciting a bit of a quiet screech from the elder blonde son.

"Dad! Not the hair!" John quickly grabbed the comb he normally kept in his back pocket and combed his hair back to the original style that he liked it to be.

"Oh alright." Jeff playfully pouted at John. "You ruin all my fun."

"I'm sorry dad." John felt mildly guilty, despite knowing his dad was playing.

"It's okay." Jeff grinned at John and attempted to tousle his hair again, but John was too quick and avoided his dad's hand.

"Ha-ha…very funny dad." John crossed his arms and pouted. He wanted Alan to wake up so the anesthesia would begin to wear off, he didn't like being in the hospital any more than your average dog liked being at the vet's office. But like the saying goes, you just have to grin and bear it.

* * *

John leaned around Alan to secure the seatbelt around his baby brother's waist. Alan was currently no help at all to his big brother. He was currently grinning like an idiot and poking John's cheek, proclaiming something about how John's cheek felt like the soft velvet of a horse's nose. John looked up and glared at his dad who was sitting in the driver's seat holding John's cell phone recording a video of the incident. It would be laughable someday, but right now it was just downright embarrassing to have your face compared to that of a horse.

"Alright, put your arm down Sprout, I need to buckle you in." John pushed Alan's arm down to rest in his lap.

"What's a sprout?" John kept a straight face as he listened to his baby brother's question.

"It's a plant." John replied calmly.

"Oh, but I thought I was human." Alan raised his arm again to pet John's face, forcing John to push Alan's arm back down. "How come I'm in a car if I'm a plant?"

John bit his lip to keep from laughing at Alan's question. Alan was nuttier than a fruitcake right now and it was quite comical. Directing his gaze up to the driver's seat John couldn't help but to glare at his dad and that damned cell phone camera aiming at him and Alan again. Why didn't Scott just come blackmail Alan himself, why was John voted to do it?

"You're not a plant Sprout…you are human." John replied as calmly as he could.

"Why do you call me sprout if I'm not a plant? You said I was human." Alan tilted his head in question.

"I call you Sprout, because that's what your nickname is for us around the family. Scott, Virge and Gordy call you Sprout too." John grabbed a tissue and dabbed at Alan's mouth when he'd begun to drool slightly. His mouth was numb and he was unaware of his mild drooling problem.

"Why?" Alan blinked, his face remaining straight as though he were questioning why the Earth was round.

"Uh…because you grew very slow when you were a small child." John couldn't remember exactly why he and his brother's called Alan 'Sprout', they just did. It had become a term of endearment, kind of like how Scott was called Scooter, John was called Space-case, Virgil was called Doc or Gordon was called Fish.

"Oh…"Alan lapsed into silence and stared at his hands, before pinching the skin on his hand. "Hey dad…why am I molting?"

John just barely managed to get the car door closed after securing Alan in the backseat, before he barked out a laugh. Sliding into the front seat of the car, John held out his hand to accept his cell phone from his dad to continue filming his baby brother post op.

"You aren't molting Alan…you aren't a bird." Jeff replied, his voice choked slightly as he struggled not to laugh. Boy the ride back to the penthouse would be fun…thirty minutes of unending nonsensical jibber-jabber from his youngest son who was gorked out on anesthesia and pain meds.

"But I thought I was a Thunderbird…don't they molt?" Alan closed his eyes and let his head loll back against the head rest as he continued to ponder the wonders of the world.

"No Alan, the Thunderbirds are metal…it's physically impossible for them to molt." John was having conniption fits in the passenger seat beside Jeff as the patriarch corrected his son. "Now Al, what do you want to eat when we get back to the apartment?"

"What?" Alan lifted his head to focus his glassy gaze on the rearview mirror. What was his dad doing in the mirror? "Dad, who's driving if you're in the mirror?"

Jeff and John both bit their lips hard to keep from busting out laughing. It was painfully obvious Alan was still quite heavily under the effects of mild altering medication. Now if only he didn't make any more outlandish statements.

"That's my reflection Alan." Jeff glanced into the rear view mirror to see his son gaze down at the floor as if to verify what his dad just told him to be true. "Now how about when we get back, John fixes you some mashed potatoes?"

"What the hell is a potato?" Alan's voice raised in question. He didn't know what a potato was. "I don't want to eat pots of toes."

That statement did it for John. He couldn't hold back his laughter. John slapped a hand to his forehead as he laughed. Alan was being truly serious. The video that was being filmed was worth its weight in gold to John right now.

"It's okay John, you don't need to cry." Alan leaned forward and patted John on the back, trying to be of comfort to his brother, but Alan's actions only served to make John laugh harder.

"I'm fine bro. But thanks." John tried to straighten up…he brushed the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Okay then Alan, if you don't want mashed potatoes, how about scrambled eggs and a strawberry milkshake?" Jeff was trying to suggest soft and palatable foods to the boy, things that could easily be swallowed if in small mouthfuls.

"Yeah…that sounds good." Alan smiled slowly as his mind processed what he'd agreed to for lunch. "Does the milk come shook up from the cow?"

This time neither Jeff nor John could hold back their laughter. Alan gave his dad and older brother bizarre and bewildered stares before glancing out the window. As if he'd never been in a moving car anymore, Alan quickly covered his eyes and gave a startled gasp.

"What is it Sprout? There's nothing to be afraid of." John reassured Alan when he glanced out the window to find they were going through a tunnel.

"It's dark, I don't want to get eaten by mole people." Alan kept his hands over his eyes where in his mind if he made it dark…it was still safe and there were no mole people to attack him.

"There aren't any mole people Allie, you're alright." Jeff comforted Alan when the boy continued to duck and hide away from the dark of the Lincoln Tunnel. They'd had to travel from the hospital located in Uptown Manhattan to Midtown Manhattan in order to reach the apartment.

"Hey Al, are you feeling okay?" John glanced over his shoulder to see Alan quivering and was wondering if he was cold or having delayed side effects to the medication.

"It's too dark." Alan refused to remove his hands from his eyes so he had no way of knowing that they'd just left the Lincoln Tunnel and entered the gloomy and wet streets of midtown Manhattan.

"We're away from the tunnel Al, it's okay. Open your eyes." John cooed to his baby brother, trying to prompt him to open his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Alan sounded like a kid.

"Yes, I'm sure Allie." John twisted around to place his hand on Alan's knee.

"Okay." Alan removed his hands from his eyes and gazed out the window. They stopped at a red-light and of all things Alan could have seen while under the influence of medicine was a person dressed up as a giant taco. "Dad, since when did tacos become nuclear beings?"

Jeff and John both tried again to stifle a laugh. Alan was clearly not all there at present; why else would he assume a giant dancing taco to be a nuclear being? Thankfully, it was all being filmed; otherwise John knew nobody would believe him or their dad when they mentioned some of what Alan talked about.

"Ugh! Oh my god dad, why didn't you tell me I was bald?!" Alan was running his hands through his shaggy blonde hair and if it wasn't for the distressing tone to his voice it would be very comical. "Now Tin-Tin won't love me."

Tin-Tin was one of Alan's closest friends and girlfriend that lived on the island with the Tracy family. She was made aware of Alan's oral surgery and she'd offered to come with Jeff and John, but Alan at the time didn't want her to see him in the state he'd be in. He didn't know whether he'd say something that'd hurt her feelings or not, and he didn't want to take that chance.

"Yes she will Al. She'd love you whether you were bald or had a hot pink Mohawk." John soothed. He'd pouted good-naturedly when Alan started sniveling.

"No she won't. I promised to marry her and today was our wedding day. I stood her up. Oh god now she won't love me. I'm sorry Tin-Tin!" Tears welled up in Alan's eyes and it was quite apparent that he was distressed.

"She'll understand bro. I'm sure if you get her a big bouquet of roses, you'll still be able to sweep her off her feet." John turned to comfort Alan.

"You think so? She won't be mad?" Alan accepted the tissue from John and dabbed at his eyes.

"No, she loves you too much to break it off with you for missing your wedding. Surgery can sometimes mess up any plans." John gently rubbed Alan's knee, eliciting a laugh from the boy.

"Stop it Johnny…it tickles." Alan pushed John's hand off his knee and pulled his legs up to his chest. "Hey dad?"

"Yes Alan?" Jeff focused on navigating the cramped streets of Manhattan. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he spied his son gazing out the window. They were driving past a car lot and there was currently one of those wacky flailing arms things set up. Alan waved at it.

Jeff's face hurt from trying not to laugh or smile at Alan's antics. The boy couldn't help it. The temporary silliness was a byproduct of the surgery.

"Can I have a banana Popsicle?" Alan inquired whilst he quit waving at the constantly flailing tube man thing outside his window in the car sales lot. "That guy's annoying, I don't know him."

"That's a good job Alan…make sure you stay away from strangers." John congratulated his brother on his statement. It didn't hurt to treat his brother like a child again…might as well while he was none the wiser to being treated like a five year old.

"Yeah Alan…when we get back to the apartment, you can have a banana Popsicle." Jeff reassured. Ten more minutes and then hopefully Alan could go lie down and sleep off the effects of the anesthesia.

"Okay." Alan leaned back in his seat, happy that he'd get a Popsicle.

"How are you feeling Al?" John turned to look at Alan and found him tugging on his ear lobe. "What are you doing?"

"Since when did I have floppy ears?" John choked on a laugh.

"You don't have floppy ears, your human not a dog." John filmed Alan who was actively tugging on his ear lobe.

"But…don't bunnies have floppy ears too?" Alan turned his gaze to John.

"Yes some of them do. Why do you think you're a bunny?" John inquired, whilst smiling at his loopy baby brother.

Alan nodded at John's question. Alan moved his hand from his ear lobe and touched the corner of his mouth and when he pulled back his hand he panicked at what he saw.

"Holy crap John! I'm bleeding!" Alan turned his hand to John so he could see the light red color on the tips of his fingers.

"I know buddy, you just got your wisdom teeth removed." John grinned good-naturedly at Alan. "You'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I don't want to die." Alan looked troubled.

"You're not gonna die, just relax." Jeff soothed. They had a few more minutes until they reached Tracy Enterprises, and then they just had to get Alan up in the elevator and take him up to the penthouse. "Why don't you try to get some sleep, we'll wake you when we get there."

"But I'm not tired." Alan pouted at the suggestion before he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue to try looking at the pink appendage.

"Just try buddy." John reached back and patted Alan's knee again. "We won't let you sleep too long."

Alan looked at his brother who was grinning at him and slowly nodded. He'd do it for John…but he didn't want to sleep the day away. He was still curious about things.

"Good boy." John replied as he watched Alan lay his head back against the seat.

* * *

John shook Alan's shoulder gently after they'd parked in the underground parking lot of Tracy Enterprises. Turns out Alan's little nap was a lot longer than expected due to an unexpected traffic jam, a truck delivering produce hadn't properly secured their shipment and so it had been spread out all over the road.

"Come on Al, where here. You can sleep inside." Alan was not rousing like John had thought he would. "Dad, looks like I am gonna have to carry him."

"Alright, let me help you get him out of the car." Jeff and John together hauled Alan out of the vehicle and Jeff steadied his youngest while John crouched down in front of Alan. Easing him down, Jeff stood by while John hoisted Alan up onto his back. "You got him okay?"

"Yeah, he's not too heavy. Gordo's heavier and yet he's shorter than Al." John couldn't understand the logic. Gordon was significantly shorter than Alan and he was an avid swimmer. One would think with him being an athlete he'd be fairly light, but no.

John and Jeff together made their way into Tracy Enterprises and made it into the executive elevator which took them up to the penthouse. Thankfully, John didn't have to explain to anyone why his lanky little brother was clinging to his back like a spider monkey, sound asleep. John glanced over his shoulder as he heard Alan snore softly and glimpsed Alan's eyes shifting beneath his eyelids rapidly.

"Maybe we'd do good to change just put him to bed, he's in a deep sleep right now dad." Jeff placed a gentle hand on Alan's back and leaned around John, sure enough Alan was in REM sleep.

"That'll work. Maybe go ahead and set Al's alarm for five tomorrow morning should he sleep through the night." Jeff entered the door code that opened the door to their penthouse and held the door open for his two blonde sons. "If worse comes to worse, you'll just have to carry him onto the jet tomorrow.

"Oh joy." John mumbled as he stepped into Alan's bedroom. Gently easing his brother off his back, John went about tucking him in for the evening. Silently making his way through Alan's room, John quickly set the alarm to go off at five on the nose. They'd need to leave at 8 but the air field they'd be using was an hour and a half's drive, just south of midtown Manhattan.

Pulling Alan's bedroom door closed, John made his way into the living room where his dad had Scott, Virgil and Gordon pulled up on the vid. The three brothers looked comical crowding around the screen, at least they did to John. It made him think of those old cartoon shows where the animated characters attempted to break the fourth wall.

"Hey, you get your brother settled?" Jeff looked up at John an eyebrow raised in question.

"Yep, he is out for the count. Alan didn't even stir when I removed his shoes or took off his hoodie." John kindly informed his father. Turning to look at the screen, John spoke up. "Man Scott, you know you should have come today…the kind of stuff Alan talked about was hilarious."

"_Don't rub it in. I wanted to go, but I needed to help Virge with replacing some wiring in Thunderbird 1. Did you get any good footage?_" Scott looked hopeful.

"Nah, you would have had to have been there." John grinned at his dad and his smile grew when Scott's face fell. "I'm joking Scott. Lighten up, I got some of what he blathered on about on film, whether or not I show it to you though is totally dependent of whether or not you want to do me a favor."

"_Name it; I want to see the film._" Scott grinned mischievously at his younger brother.

"_Count me in!_" Virgil chimed in.

"_Make that three!_" Gordon raised his hand to volunteer himself to whatever John wanted to request.

"Well…" John's smile grew as he devised something to make Scott, Virgil and Gordon do for him. He'd have to make it unpleasant…maybe make his three brothers dress up as butlers and speak in false accents and serve him and Alan for three consecutive weeks. Yeah, that sounded good. Though why would he include Alan? Good reason…it was thanks to Alan and his need for surgery that gave John license to torment his brothers.

'_Thank you Alan.'_ John gazed towards Alan's closed bedroom door and his smile grew to epic proportions.


End file.
